Itinerary

DAY 1: CHRISTCHURCH TO ARTHUR’S PASS

Welcome to our New Zealand Birding tour! Upon your arrival to Christchurch, we will meet you at the airport and head straight to Arthur’s Pass National Park. As time permits, we will do some birding en route. Our main target for this region will the the alpine parrot, the Kea. We will also search for other endemics including Gray Gerygone, Tomtit, and New Zealand Fantails, and the Brown Creeper, otherwise known as Pipipi.

DAY 2: ARTHUR’S PASS TO TWIZEL

Depending on our luck the day before, we may make another visit to a few key sites to get more or better views of the lovely Kea. We will then make our way towards Twizel. Along the way, we will make some stops in search for some species including European Goldfinches, Silvereyes, and Australian Magpies. Our most anticipated stop of the day will be at Lake Tekopo. Beautiful scenery – blue water, snow-capped mountains, green fields, and some new species for the day await us. Australasian Shoveler, Double-banded Plover, Southern Island Oystercatcher, and Pied Stilt. The Black Stilt is our main target for this area. As time permits, we will also make a stop at Cass River to search for Wrybills, and Black-fronted Terns.

DAY 3: TWIZEL TO OUMARA

Today we will travel to Oumara. Along the way, we will make several key stops in search of several species including New Zealand Falcon,  Wrybill, Pacific Black Duck, South Island and Variable oystercatchers, Yellowhammer, Little Owl, Silver Gull, White-faced Heron, Spotted Shags, New Zealand Scaup, and Great Crested Grebe. We will end the day with a stop at Bushy Beach Scenic Reserve, in search for Yellow-eyed Penguins that tend to come to shore in the evenings. While awaiting the penguins’ arrival, we will scan the expansive waters in case a Northern Giant Petrel,
Salvin’s Albatross, or Sooty Shearwater passes by. If we are lucky, we might even spot our first mammal – New Zealand Fur Seal on the beach or swimming in the water.

DAY 4: OUMARA TO BALCLUTHA

This morning we will travel to Balclutha. Along the way, we will make strategic stops to search for some of New Zealand’s amazing seabirds including Stewart Island Shag, Spotted Shag, and White-fronted Tern. As time permits, we will make a stop at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary. Here we hope to get some nice views of a few more endemics – New Zealand Bellbird, Tui, New Zealand Kaka, New Zealand Pigeon, and a small family of South Island Takahe. Our last stop for the day will be at a local wetland in search of the New Zealand Fernbird.

DAY 5: BALCLUTHA TO STEWART ISLAND

Today will be mostly a travel day as we drive from Balclutha to where we will catch the ferry to Stewart Island. Along the way, we will make some stops to stretch our legs and search for a few more birds. Stopping along shorelines and wetlands, we will look out for Royal Spoonbill, Black Swans, Gray Teal, Pied Cormorant, Australian Shovelers, Sooty Shearwaters, and more. We will take the afternoon ferry to Stewart Island. The hour-long ride may yield some new species including Fairy Prion, Common Diving Petrel, and maybe even Little Penguin swimming in the waters around the boat.

DAY 6: STEWART AND ULVA ISLANDS

Today we will take a short boat ride to Ulva Island, Rakiura National Park. Here, we will explore the park on foot, along forest trails and the shoreline. New Zealand Bellbird, Tui, New Zealand Kaka, Red-crowned
Parakeet, Yellowhead, South Island Saddleback, and Yellow-crowned Parakeet are all possible in this park’s splendid forests. Along the beach, we will search for another endemic, Weka. In the afternoon, we will do a short pelagic trip in search of Fjordland Penguin, White-capped and Savins’s Albatross, among others. This evening, we will do a night walk in search of one of New Zealand’s most iconic birds – the Southern Brown Kiwi. We may also see or hear the endemic Morepork along the way.

DAY 7: STEWART ISLAND TO TE ANAU

Today will take the ferry back to the mainland. Taking advantage of more time on the water, we will keep our eyes out for more seabirds including Brown Skua, and Cape and Mottled Petrels. We will make some strategic stops along the way, but our main destination for today is Fiordlands National Park and our target – the South Island Wren.

DAY 8: MILFORD SOUND

Today we will enjoy a lovely cruise on Milford Sound. The scenery along the drive is incredible, with open grassy fields, snow-capped mountains, and flowing rivers. The cruise itself lasts around 2 hours and will take us through some of New Zealand’s most stunning backdrops of waterfalls, dramatic cliffs, mountain peaks, forested hillsides, and blue water. We may spot Fur Seals lazing on the rocks, Fiordland Penguins in the
water, Pied Cormorants perched on exposed blankets, and, if we get lucky a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins. We will then head back Te Anau. We will stop at a few strategic areas to search for Blue Duck along the rivers, and New Zealand Pipit in grass fields.

DAY 9: TE ANAU TO QUEENSLAND & DEPARTURE

Today we will travel to Queensland for our afternoon departure. En route, we will search for Spotless and Baillon’s Crake, Australian Shoveler, Australian Magpie, and more. Our New Zealand Birding Tour concludes in Queenstown.